Planning Your Trip

Las Vegas at night

You’ve decided to go to Vegas alone. Good for you! Vegas is a terrific solo travel destination. Whether or not you’ve been to Las Vegas before, you probably have some questions about what it’s like to travel to Vegas alone. Some of those questions will be based on nerves, like “Will I be safe traveling alone?” “Will I be lonely?” “Is Vegas fun for people traveling alone?” Please see my Safety tips if you are at all concerned about that. Here is a blog post I wrote for SoloFriendly.com on tips forcombating loneliness when traveling solo.

Other questions you may have will be more practical, such as:

Should I go with a Vegas package deal or book air, hotel, and car separately?

These are all good questions. The answers largely depend on you. If you are the type of person who really enjoys researching and planning every detail of your trip, then you probably don’t want to go through a travel agent. About the only time you would need to go through a travel agent for a trip to Vegas is if you are such a busy person that you don’t even have a couple of hours to spare to plan your trip yourself. If that’s the case, then go for it.

The next thing to take into consideration is money. Are you a “money is no object” type of traveler, or are you looking for a cheap Vegas vacation because you’re on a budget? Ask yourself these questions before you start researching places to stay and before you decide whether or not to book a package. Knowing what you want upfront will help you sift through the overabundance of information about Las Vegas that you will find on the Internet. I like to compare Las Vegas package deals with booking each piece separately. In my experience, booking each piece separately has always been less expensive, but you never know when you’re going to come across that great package deal. And since flights to Las Vegas can be quite expensive these days, you really need to shop around.

Are you comfortable driving in a strange city? If so, then you might want to rent a car, since it will increase your options for hotel, dining, and activities during your stay in Vegas. If you are a serious gambler, renting a car could be crucial for you, because the games with the best odds tend to be located off the Strip at locals casinos. If you’re not comfortable driving in a new city, you’re not a serious gambler, or renting a car might break your travel budget, don’t worry. You don’t need to rent a car in Las Vegas. You can still find games with good odds on Fremont Street, located in the part of Vegas known as Downtown, and you could easily get between the Strip and Downtown using buses or taxis. There are some off-Strip hotels with shuttle service to the Strip, but you might have to wait awhile for a shuttle. I’ll discuss your transportation options more in the Transportation section.

Pool

Should you book shows and restaurant reservations ahead of time? It depends on how badly you want to see a particular show, or how badly you want to dine at a particular restaurant versus any restaurant of a particular type. If you really, really, really want to see the hottest new show on the Strip, then you will need to book ahead of time. If what show you see doesn’t matter as much as the cost does, I’d wait until you get there. Also, whether or not you book in advance depends on when you are traveling to Vegas. The busier it is, the less your chances of scoring a ticket to a good show or getting into a nice restaurant.

Which brings us to the most important thing you need to do to plan your trip: research! If you are the type of person who is happiest just wandering around and doing things spontaneously, this might not apply to you–but then again, it might. The more you know about the city and your options, the more you can make informed decisions. This Las Vegas travel guide for solo travelers will help you get started with that research.